Refrigerating apparatus



July 24, 1962 R. D. BARTON REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 21, 1959 IN V EN TOR. BY vari'onf, 9%@

United States Patent F' 3,045,451 REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Ralph l). Barton, Evansville, Ind., assigner to Whirlpool Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 21, 1959, Ser. No. $41,103 3 Claims. (Cl. 62-407) r[his invention relates to a refrigerating apparatus.

In freezing freezable material such as Water to form ice cubes, it is customary to provide a mold such as an ordinary ice cube tray or the mold of an automatic ice maker in or adjacent a freezer compartment of a refrigerator and to arrange this mold in thermal contact with an evaporator tube or tubes through which liquid refrigerant is conducted. The evaporation of the liquid refrigerant provides the cooling means for freezing the freezable material.

The provision of such an evaporator tube for freezing water and other freezable materials adds to the cost of the freezer. In addition, frost forms on the evaporator tube and parts associated therewith requiring `frequent defrosting in order to insure the proper functioning of the apparatus. The refrigerating apparatus of this invention avoids these difficulties in that an air stream cooled to a subfreezing temperature is used for cooling and freezing the freezable material. With this arrangement, there is substantially no frost yformed on the portion of the structure used to freeze the material and there is no necessity of providing a separate evaporator tube or evaporator tube assembly for freezing the material.

One of the features of this invention, therefore, is to provide an improved refrigerating apparatus providing means for cooling an air stream to a subfreezing temperature and means yfor directing the air stream in heat exchange relationship with a freezable material for freezing the same.

Another feature of the invention is to provide such an `apparatus including means for directing the subfreezing 'air stream first through a chamber adapted for the storage of frozen articles such as frozen foods and then directing the air stream from the chamber in said heat exchange relationship.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of certain embodiments thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Of the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a refrigerating apparatus embodying the invention and taken substantially along line 1-1 of FIGURE 2 and showing certain portions of the apparatus diagrammatically.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional plan view taken substantially along line 2 2 of FIGURE 1 showing certain portions of the apparatus diagrammatieally.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective detail view of one embodiment of a heat transfer member.

FIGURE 4 is a similar perspective view of a second embodiment of a heat transfer member.

In the embodiment of FIGURES 1 3, the apparatus includes a refrigerated cabinet provided with insulating side 11 and rear Walls 12 and having an open front normally closed by a movable door 13. The illustrated apparatus is the upper freezer compartment of a household refrigerator.

The upper portion of the refrigerator is provided with a rear Wall 14 and a forward spaced wall 15 to provide an air ow passage first section 16. Forwardly of the wall 15 is a second air flow passage section 17 that cornmunicates with one end of the rst section 16 by Way of an opening 18 in the wall 15 covered by a screen 19. This opening 18 is adjacent a side wall 20` dening one 3,045,451 Patented July 24, 1962 side of the passage section or chamber 17. On the side of the chamber 17 opposite the side wall 20 is a partition wall 21 spaced from a second side -wall 22. The space between the partition wall 21 and wall 22 provides a third air passage 23 which extends from front to rear of the cabinet 10 and which communicates at its front with the chamber or second passage section 17 and at its rear with the first air passage section r16- by way of an opening 24 in the rear wall 15.

A motor 25 is located within the insulation of the rear wall 12 and drives a fan or blower 26 located in the passage section 16 adjacent the opening 18. Rotation of the fan 26 forces air through the opening 18, through the chamber 17, through the third air passage section 23 and through the first section 16 and back to the fan 26. This arrangement is, of course, a closed circuit of forced air so long -as the door 13 is normally closed.

Located in the first air passage section 16 is a means for cooling the air stream in the air passage comprising the sections 16, 17 and 23. This cooling means, which is shown diagrammatically at 27 is preferably in the form of a bank of refrigerant coils of customary construction so that the cooling means 27 is the ordinary refrigerant evaporator. -Such an arrangement of `an evaporator in an air passage leading to and `from a freezer chamber or compartment is shown in more detail in the copendind application of E. F. Hubacker and I. E. Krug, Serial No. 807,671, filed April 20, 1959 and assigned to the same assignee. The evaporator 27 is not shown in detail here as such details form no part of the present invention.

In order to provide for freezing the freezable material such as water in the form of ice cubes, there is provided la heat transfer member 28 adapted to be arranged in heat transfer relationship to a freezable material for freezing the same with this heat transfer member being located in the third air passage section 23. Thus, as is illustrated, the heat transfer member or shelf 28 has a flat supporting surface member 29 which serves as the shelf proper and depending spaced substantially parallel fins 30 extending downwardly into the air passage section 23. These ns serve as heat transfer partitions in this third passage section to divide the section into a plurality of flow paths 31 for the flow of subfreezing air therethrough. The heat transfer member 28 serves as a support for the freezable Amaterial which may be water in an ordinary ice cube tray or other such container as illustrated diagrammatically at 32.

The freezing means of this invention may, of course, be used with `an automatic ice maker. Such a heat transfer member 33 is illustrated in FIGURE 4. Here the member 33 includes similar depending fins 34 and an upper partitioned cavity 35 in which the water is frozen to produce the ice. The member 33 is `also provided with a side flange 36 for bolting to the side wall 22 of the cabinet 10. A typical automatic ice maker that may be used in conjunction with the invention here is shown and described in Patent 2,717,495.

In operation, air flow through the air passage including the first section 16, second section or chamber 17 and third section 23 all arranged for series flow therethrough is caused by operation of the fan 26. Air flowing through the passage section 16 is cooled by the evaporator 27 to a subfreezing temperature and is then forced through the opening 18 into the second section or chamber y17. Frozen foods stored in this chamber in the customary manner are cooled and maintained in their frozen condition by this air stream. The air stream then flows from the chamber 17 through the parallel paths 31 of the third air passage section 23 in heat absorbing contact with the fins 30. The subfreezing air extracts heat from these fins which in turn extracts heat from water or other freezable material Within the container or tray 32. This, of course, freezes the material and the air with the extracted heat flows through the opening 24 into the entrance to the first air passage section 16 where it is again passed over and in heat transfer relationship with the evaporator 27. The circuit is then repeated. With this arrangement, substan tially no frost forms on the heat transfer member or on the container or tray 32. Substantially all frost is deposited on the evaporator 27 which is colder than any other surface or member in the air flow passage. This frost may then be periodically removed either automatically or in the customary manner. Thus, the only evaporator structure is in the evaporator coil 27 and no evaporator tube is required in thermal contact with the member 28 or the container or tray 32 supported thereon.

Having described my invention as related to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, it is my intention that the invention be not limited Vby any of the details of description, unless otherwise specified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in the accompanying claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

l. Refrigerating apparatus having a closed refrigerated air circuit, comprising: means forming an air passage having an entrance and an exit; means for cooling an air stream in said passage to a subfreezing temperature; means forming a chamber, having an entrance and an exit, for storage of frozen articles; means for directing said subfreezing air stream from said passage exit, through said chamber entrance, through said chamber and through said chamber exit into said passage entrance; a support member at said chamber exit and said passage entrance, said support member including a freezing section for supporting a freezable material; means forming a uid passage in said support member in heat transfer relationship with said freezing section; means for directing substantially all said subfreezing air stream from said chamber and through said support member fluid passage means on the way to said air passage entrance `to complete said refrigerated air circuit, said circuit thereby including said air passage, said chamber and said support member fluid passage; and means for circulating air through said circuit.

2. The refrigerating apparatus of claim 1 wherein said support member is provided with a plurality of said fluid passages arranged substantially in parallel for substantially parallel air flow therethrough.

3. Refrigerating apparatus having a closed refrigerated air circuit, comprising: means forming an air passage having an entrance and an exit; means for cooling an air stream in said passage to a subfreezing temperature; means forming a chamber, having an entrance and an exit, for storage of frozen articles; means for directing said subfreezing air stream from said passage exit, through said chamber entrance, through said chamber and through said chamber exit into said passage entrance; a support member at said chamber exit and said passage entrance, said support member including an upper freezing section for supporting a freezable material and a lower fluid passage means including a plurality of substantially parallel fluid passages beneath said freezing section and in heat transfer relationship therewith', means for directing substantially all said subfreezing air stream from said chamber and through said support member Huid passage means on the way to said air passage entrance to complete said refrigerated air circuit, said circuit thereby including said air passage, said chamber and said support member fluid passage; and means for circulating air through said circuit.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,008,269 Whittemore July `16, 1935 2,063,646 Whitesel Dec. 8, 1936 2,192,562 Scott Mar. 5, 1940 2,487,408 Askin Nov. 8, 1949 2,487,584 Patterson Nov. 8, 1949 2,561,276 Hill July 17, 1951 2,647,375 Zearfoss Aug. 4, 1953 2,710,508 Staebler et al. June 14, 1955 2,801,525 Bixler Aug. 6, 1957 2,997,857 Clark Aug. 29, 1961 

